“Okay…” He still sounded dubious, but I wasn’t worried—I would find a way to show him how much fun I had the next time I saw him. “But what do I say went wrong? I have to give some sort of reason, right?”

“You could just say it was super boring,” I said. “I mean, I don’t know why it would be so bad that you would refuse to talk about it, but it’s an option. Or… say that she went out with you on a dare. That you really liked her and thought it was going well, but then it turned out that she only went out with you, so she and her friends could make fun of you and stuff. That would be devastating.”

“That feels oddly specific.”

I had a feeling that he thought it had actuallyhappened to me, but it hadn’t. The worst that ever happened to me was that one of the popular boys had asked me out as a dare, and I turned him down because I was worried that was the case. But that happened to everyone, right?

“It’s just a common fear,” I said. “Anyway, just say that. I promise they’ll leave you alone.”

“If you’re sure…” he murmured.

Bay

Ok fine I was out

Tis Moi, Luca

I knew it

Bay

I went out with this girl

Ni-Ni

WAIT WHAT

Bay

But it didn’t go well

So I don’t want to talk about it

Sharky

What happened??

Tis Moi, Luca

What part of “I don’t want to talk about it” do you not understand

“Do you think I actually need to mention the dare part?” Hudson asked. “I feel bad for making them think that it was actuallysomething that bad.”

“You can say it if they keep asking,” I said. “But you don’t have to.”

“Okay, well, now that that’s done with,” he said, “what are you up to today?”

“Why? You can’t stand to be away from me for more than a day?”

“It’s torture,” he said, dragging the word out. “Is there any chance we can go out tonight?”

“You know, I think the rule with dates is to not ask for the second date for at least three days, so you don’t seem too eager.”

I wasn’t actually sure about that—I felt like I’d read it in some magazine a couple of years ago, but I could have been completely misremembering it. But I doubted Hudson would know it any better than me, so I didn’t worry about it.

“Screw not seeming eager,” he said. “I am eager. All I want is to see you.”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”